No. 6. DEPARTIMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 425 



PAPERS READ AND ADDRESSES DELIVERED AT THE 

 THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PENNSYL- 

 VANIA STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. HELD AT 

 HARRISBURG. PA.. JANUARY 24 AND 25. 1912. 



KEPOKT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CEKEALS AND CEREAL 



CROPS 



By J. MILES DERR, Chairman. 



Agriculture is really our most important industry because it fur- 

 nishes so many raw materials for our manufacturers. Flour could 

 not be made without wheat, nor cloth without cotton, wool or other 

 fibre. Of all our farm products, the grains or "cereals," are the 

 most valuable. They are the seeds of certain cultivated grasses, 

 growing in all climates, from the Equator to the Arctic Circle. 



In many respects, wheat may be considered the "King of the 

 Cereals;" while as a wealth producer, "Corn is King," with a value 

 more than twice that of the cotton crop this year, and but little 

 less than the combined values of the cotton, wheat and oats crops. 

 Corn is by far the leading crop of the United States as a wealth 

 producer. 



The estimate of 2,776,000,000 bushels indicates a production that 

 has been exceeded only in two years. The farm price of corn is 

 now high, and this establishes a total value for the crop that reaches 

 $1,700,000,000 and breaks the record. According to this year's re- 

 port, it has been proven that a large crop may be worth less to the 

 producer than a small one and a small crop may be worth more 

 than a large one. 



The cotton crop of this year, commonly supposed to be the largest 

 one ever grown, has reached a price of lint that is five cents a pound 

 below that of last year, and for the same reason the price of seed 

 has declined. Apparently, the value of fibre and seed of this year's 

 crop is below the value of the last two ye-ars, although above the 

 value of the five preceding years. There is no crop that this country 

 produces that excites such world-wide interest as cotton, for the 

 reason that the crop of the United States is about three-fourths of 

 the world's production. 



Barley is a crop this year deficient in production. The 146,000,000 

 bushels are 12 per cent, below the last five year average; but the 

 total value of the crop is about $125,000,000, and much above the 

 record value of 1907. 



In this report I desire to confine my remarks to wheat, and try 

 to give some reasons why we should produce better crops of this 

 important cereal in our State. 



